A look at Billy Graham's achievements
• Grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, on a 300-acre dairy farm
• Accepted Christ at age 16
• In high school, felt called "to serve God and do His will as a minister of the Gospel"
• Attended Bob Jones College (now Bob Jones University) in Greenville, South Carolina, for one semester
• Graduated from Florida Bible College (now Trinity College of Florida)
• Became an ordained Southern Baptist minister
• Came to Wheaton College in September 1940 as a 21-year-old second-semester freshman (most of his previous credits did not transfer)
• Majored in anthropology
• Met Wheaton College President V. Raymond Edman and began a friendship that lasted until Edman's death in 1967
• Met Ruth Bell at Wheaton College in 1940
• Bell accepted Graham's marriage proposal on July 6, 1941
• Joined the Foreign Missions Fellowship his sophomore year
• Joined the Naitermain "Knights" male literary society and gospel team his junior year
• Served as Christian Council president his senior year
• Served as pastor of local United Gospel Tabernacle church while a student
• Graduated from Wheaton College in 1943
• Married Ruth Bell on Aug. 13, 1943, in North Carolina
• Became pastor of The Village Church of Western Springs (now Western Springs Baptist Church)
• Began preaching across the Midwest
• Joined Youth for Christ International in 1945, traveling the U.S. and Europe to preach
• Became president of the Northwestern Schools in Minneapolis in 1948; resigned in 1952
• Graham's preaching at the evangelistic campaign Christ for Greater Los Angeles began to draw media coverage in 1949
• Launched a radio program, "The Hour of Decision," and formed the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 1950
• Served on the Wheaton College board of trustees for 27 years
• Awarded an honorary doctorate from Wheaton College in 1956
• Founded two magazines, "Christianity Today" and "Decision"
• Wrote 33 books and a syndicated newspaper column, "My Answer"
• Wheaton College dedicated the Billy Graham Center in September 1976